All of our courses have laboratory sections taught by the professors. Classes are small, so each student receives hands-on experience with modern research equipment. For classes with a field component, Stetson's central location offers many opportunities for study in such places as the Ocala National Forest, Canaveral National Seashore, Blue Springs State Park, and the Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge.

One of the many benefits of Stetson's small size is that each student performs a senior research project with a faculty member before graduation. Students begin preparing for the project during their sophomore year by taking Biostatistical Methods I and II. These courses train students to design experiments, to collect and analyze data, and to write an effective report. As juniors, students choose research topics and faculty mentors and write a formal research proposal. Then, as seniors, students carry out an original research project that has been tailored to their personal interests. Although most projects are completed in a faculty mentor's laboratory, some students complete projects off campus in hospitals, laboratories, doctor's offices, etc.

Students are encouraged to begin their research over the summer between their junior and senior years, particularly as part of Stetson's Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE), which provides funding for equipment, room and board, and travel. All Biology majors are encouraged to present the results of their research at our Undergraduate Research and Creative Arts Symposium (SURCAS) and at other scientific forums, such as state and national conferences.

Titles of some of the 2007 student research projects:

Neurobiological studies

• Distribution of brainstem neurons activated by electrical stimulation and correlated with taste-related behaviors in rats
• Glutamate Levels in the PBN during Taste Stimulation
  

• Blocking AMPA Receptors in the Waist Area of the Parabrachial Nucleus Reduces Ingenstive Oromotor Responses in Conscious Rats

  
  

Microbiological studies

• Culturing of the cyanobacterial, Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, for the collection of the toxin, cylindrospermopsin, utlizing high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC)

Medical studies

• The Efficacy of owner-applied OraVet, a canine dental barrier sealant

Terrestrial ecological studies

• The Effects of Predator Size on Behavioral Responses of Aphelocoma coerulescens (the Florida Scrub Jay) to Coluber constrictor priapus (the southern black racer)  
  
• The effect of subpopulation density on fruiting success in Curtiss' milkweed (Asclepias curtissii) 
  

• The effect of carrion water content on blow fly (Diptera: Calliohoridae) larval development

  
  

Aquatic studies

• Nest habitat selection and nesting behaviors of armored catfish (Hoplosterum littorale) in Lake Woodruff, Florida
  
• The effect of the armored exotic catfish Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus on the behavior of the Florida manatee Trichechus manatus
  
• Shoaling behaviors of Lucania parva and Lucania goodei in Rock Springs and Blue Springs, Florida   

• Mitochondria DNA suggests high levels of genetic differentiation among populations of the stonefly Doroneuria baumanni within the Great Basin, Nevada, USA

Student Presentations at Local and National Meetings

Student Publications

Learn more about undergraduate research at Stetson

• Neurobiology
  
• Reptile Ecology
• Aquatic and Marine Biology
• Plant Population Genetics
  
• Molecular Biology
  

Photos by Kirsten Work and Terry Grieb